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From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
Former General Manager, Security, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr. Sam Otoboeze, has cautioned the electorate in Enugu State and Nigeria at large to eschew violence as they prepare to return to the polls for the Governorship and House of Assembly elections on March 11.
Otoboeze, a lawyer and patron of Africa Youths Community gave the warning in a press statement in Nsukka yesterday.
He described politics as a game of wits and not warfare, adding that anyone who dies in the process of engaging in illegal acts to ensure his candidate wins has denied himself the opportunity of becoming a leader someday, and of enjoying the crumbs from his master’s table.
He expressed concern over the growing suspicion between the people of Nsukka and Nkanu cultural zones in Enugu State ahead of the forthcoming election, adding that they are already intertwined by culture, blood, and marriages to be divided by politics.
The statement read in part: “I wish to appeal to the youths of Enugu State, and indeed all over the country, to eschew bitterness in the forthcoming Governorship and State Assembly elections. No election, to whatsoever position is worth the blood of any of our youths or that of any other person, whomsoever. Politics is and should remain a game of wits but never and should never be warfare.
“We must not forget that power, just like life, is transient, very ephemeral, and most times more utopian than a gambler’s hopes and expectations. Who told you that those who work hardest for a candidate in an election, including sacrificing one’s life, gain most from such candidates when they are in power? As a security professional, I can unequivocally tell you that those who ended up in jail due to engagement in one form of political violence or the other, all without exception, regretted ever getting into politics. You can imagine how those who lost their lives feel in their shallow graves!
“Anyone who dies in the process of engaging in any illegal act to ensure that his candidate wins has simply denied him/herself the opportunity of not only enjoying the crumbs from his/her master’s table but has permanently lost the opportunity of becoming a master some day, except may be in the spirit world. Every youth is a potential governor, legislator, LGA chairman or councilor, a political appointee or a business person etc. The most important qualification is life. A dead youth can never qualify for any of the above opportunities, except maybe in the spirit world. This is why your blood or the blood of any other person is too much to be sacrificed for anybody to get to power. It’s only a foolish youth or a drug-addicted youth who would choose to elect the candidate of his choice with his blood or the blood of an innocent person instead of using his index finger on the ballot papers.
“The growing suspicion and misconception among some elite of Nsukka and Nkanu with regards to the upcoming governorship election are of great concern. We are too intertwined to be divided by politics. We are fused in blood; we are wrapped together by marriage. We are intertwined in culture. Because of all these facts, we should always bear in mind that the death of any of our youths, whether from Nkanu or Nsukka is the death of all.”
